Soundscape: Installation - Whispering in the Leaves

Whispering in the Leaves (5:08) Chris Watson’s Whispering in the Leaves is an extraordinary sound installation, using recordings and natural history broadcast to transport us to the far-flung, dense rain forests of South and Central America. Throughout Kew Gardens’ Summer festival, the Palm House  whisperingintheleaves.org was diffused with the dawn and dusk choruses of the myriad of creatures native to these lush tropical landscapes. 

Chris Watson produces recordings for film, television and radio, and sound installations. From the groaning of Icelandic glaciers, to underwater recordings of the Humboldt Current around the Galapagos Islands, to the purring of an adult cheetah, Watson has won awards for his exceptional work, which he says, “puts a microphone where you can’t put your ears”. He has won awards for his exceptional recording work for BBC natural history programmes by Sir David Attenborough and others, and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of West England for his outstanding contribution to sound recording.

Prior to his sound recording career, Watson was a founding member of UK experimental music band Cabaret Voltaire and later, The Hafler Trio. His more recent solo albums include Outside the Circle of Fire, Stepping into the Dark (which won an Award of Distinction at the 2000 Prix Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria) and the iconic Weather Report. Visit his web site: www.chriswatson.net